War Council
Malion glances across to Ace, cocking a brow. "Kak dela... What the hell is bloody kak dela Ace?" He scratches the back of his head, looking slightly unsure. "If ya askin' if I have a VD, no I don't. If ya askin' if I'm alright... As expected." He glances towards Marlan, giving her a quick nod. "Gotta get ya that invoice Marly, don't run off before I get that to ya." Marlan's just exited the shuttle port, Ace is on the boarding ramp of the Faux... And Malion, he's on the boarding ramp. "Wouldn't think of it." Marlan replies to Malion and turns to Ace, "Alright...so where we headed to?" she asks, "Don't mind taking a hoopin seat somewhere, da." "Sorry," Ace chuckles at Mal, "Meaning 'how are you,' da?" She turns back to Marlan, "Is conference room through there," she points to the common area. "Provided, that is, that anyone shows up." The Jackal's hatch cycles open, and one orange-and-white furred Demarian walks down the ramp, her paws in the pockets of her long, red coat. Swiftfoot pauses behind Mal and looks down at him, one ear flicking halfway back. "She doesn't bite, Mal. You can leave the boarrding rramp, you know." The felinoid chuckles then, her whiskers bristling. "Better than I was," Malion says, offering a smile to Ace. He makes his way down the boarding ramp, taking a moment adjust his suit jacket. "How 'bout yaself Ace?" He glances back up to the Demarian exiting the Jackal. "Nah, Rhian might try and castrate me, if I'm too friendly with other doctors." He snickers, and then folds his arms across his chest, turning his head to regard Marlan once more. "Good, I'll try and get me finger out send ya that bill." Marlan looks in the direction that Ace indicates and notes before turning to move past the Jackal, crutches clacking against the deckplating and closer to the Faux, "Don't know, da. SEems like we've got atleast three of us here already, da." she looks over to the StarSkipper, "maybe four." she shrugs adn turns to Ace, "its a start, da" Another figure exits from the Jackal, sour look on his face. Torr glances around the landing pad, pulling out a fresh cigarette and lighting it. He begins down the ramp, pace slow as he makes his way into the scene. "Privet, Swifty," Ace nods to the Demarian, "And no offense to anyone here," she looks back to Marlan, "But without military support, we are not going anywhere." Swiftfoot snorts, her ears flicking back as the hatch opens behind her. She brushes past Malion, pausing at the base of the boarding ramp to watch Marlan hobble past. The big cat nods then at Ace. "I couldn't agrree morre. We'd just end up dead if we went in without enough backup. Those people don't need marrtyrrs. They need rrescuerrs." She shrugs then, the end of her tail flicking. The gunsmith remains standing their, the smoke of Torr's cigarette reaches his nose and he digs into his trouser pocket for his own packet of cigarettes. He moves to onside as Swifty brushes past him, he withdraws a cigarette and lights up, as to be expected. Malion, Swifty and Torr are near the Jackal, Marlan is hobbling towards the Faux, and Ace is on the boarding ramp of the Faux. Actually fully dressed for once (sans footwear), the Zangali comes out of the shuttle area. He's conspicuously neither scratching at his shoulder nor eating. He heads in the direction of the ships. Marlan shakes her head, "No argument given, da." she replies, "Question is...we contact the militaries and ask them to send representatives? We talk to the council and get their final verdict?" Torr snorts a little at this, the noise serving the dual purpose of letting out smoke from the cigarette as well as the usual aim. "Fuckin' Christ. Yeah. Dead can't help with that shit." He waits behind Swifty and Malion on the ramp. "What is this shit, traffic jam? Christ." He moves past Malion, if he is able. Joshua shuffles in from the Commons in full uniform, stoping near the edge to regard the crowd. Aleksei enters the landing bay of Sol Station with a dour expression on his face. His face does light up a bit as he notices the giant cat and massive dino. He gives a nod to them. His face resumes some of his dourness however as he sees Torr and Ace. To Swiftfoot: "Would like to talk to you later, nothing serious, and no rush, yes?" To Malion, with a nod towards his cig pack: "Which reminds me, have something for you too." And to the big dino: "Congratulations. You have come up and down in the world, as it were." Alek smirks at this last. It would appear he is done talking for this moment. The Faux's kapitan gives a welcoming nod to Torr as he moves down the Jackal's ramp, "Da, Swifty, and we cannot do it alone." She again turns her attention to Marlan, "I spoke with everyone and invited them here, da. Am not so certain Ungstir is going to bother, though." Marlan's brow furrows. She stands, leaning on her crutches in front of the Faux, "Why woudl they not?" she asks Ace, standing a few feet from her on the ramp. "Ya scrounged those durries, huh?" Malion says in reply to Aleksei, a slight smirk residing on his lips. He glances towards the Zangali that everyone seems fixated by. "How's the head Urf?" he calls out to the lizard. "Ace," Torr sends a nod and a slight smirk toward her. "No fuckin' surprise. Ungstir. Bunch of cocksucking assholes. No fuckin' shake up there. Figured they would pull that shit." The Martian shakes his head and takes a long drag. He looks toward Marlan. "Thats why. Assholes." Swiftfoot looks back over her shoulder at Torr and chuckles, then steps off to the side, standing just to the right of the Jackal's boarding ramp. She eyes the Kommissar with one eyeridge quirked upward dubiously, then chuckles and nods. "Sounds good, chief. We can talk overr a vodka sometime." The Demarian shifts her gaze to Marlan and shrugs as Torr answers, seemingly content to let the Martian's answer stand instead of making one of her own. Silvereye steps out of an express shuttle, adjusting his jacket before setting off across the landing area, his gaze sweeping from side to side. Marlan's gaze lifts to Torr, "Ya know." she says, voice even. "It's a hoopin miracle with that mouth of yours no onespushed you out an airlock yet, da." she shakes her head and turns back to Ace, "If the militias given their support you know alot of those ships'll be out there, regardless if the council's decsision changes, da. Its a matter of honor." Making a minute and almost imperceptible correction to his beret, the Zangali first shoots Aleksei a vague glower, asking, "What stupid softskin?" Then, he directs his one eyed glare in Malion's direction and declares, "Urf Urf." Long distance to Torr: Swiftfoot was scared and had to run afk earlier cause she couldn't find her cat :/ Found him in a closet finally. Think he's looking for cool dark places to hide cause he's feelin sick. :/ Joshua makes his way closer to the crowd, ceremonial sword swishing to-and-fro at his side as he approaches. He stops once in with the group. "I apologize for my delay, I was detained by a late communique," Joshua says humbly, giving a Aleksei remarks to Marlan, "I could help in that regard." Then to Swiftfoot: "Good idea. As I said tbefore, no rush, can wait until after this." Al vaguely gestures, then sez to Urf: "I refer to your position in New Luna Militia. Congratulations. I also wish to congratulate you on something else. But that's for later. Not for, ah, prying ears, yes?" Alek gestures vaguely around again." And to Ace: "You could try, though. True, you'll likely die waiting, however. The good Polkovnik General is not changing mind soon. Have it on good authority." Alek has a dour expression once more on his face. The orange-furred Demarian standing near Jackal's boarding ramp quirks one eyeridge upward and eyes Marlan briefly before her gaze simply slides away toward the new arrivals. She flicks her tail at Silvereye, then blinks down at Joshua. "Aw, look, guys. I swearr, Sivadians get cuterr everry day." Swiftfoot looks over at Ace then, her ears laying back. She makes no reply though, content to give only a nearly-imperceptible shake of her head. "Great... More fuckin' hero, hot shot wannabes," The rural Martian grumbles to himself, mainly looking between Joshua and Marlan. "Just what we need." He takes a drag from his cigarette, and then exhales the smoke through his nose. Once more a smirk resides on his lips after Swifty's comment to the RNS Officer. He glances back up to the Demarian. "Should get Jared out... He'd love him." Torr snorts at Marlan. "Many have tried, all have failed. So fuck you." Steely eyes remain on the Ungstiri for a moment then look toward Ace. Then, the Sivadian shows up and Torr snickers. "Christ. Just what we fuckin' need," he remarks, shaking his head a little. Back to Ace; "Like I said, big fuckin' suprise there." He begins trailing after the woman. Marlan looks back over her shoulder, breaking eye contact with Torr. She spots the Sivadian and Ungstiri, "Wonderful, da." she takes several paces, turning full circle and spotting Urfkgar along the way, "Well....looks liek we've got atleast two militiaries herenow, da. Sounds like its time to go take a seat." she comments idly, crutches swingin towards the conference room. Silvereye catches sight of the group around the Faux, slipping his paws into his pockets and following them wordlessly. Joshua glowers at Torr and Malion. "I am here at the behest of the Admiralty," Joshua says, giving an indignant hmph, "If you have any hopes of garnering support from us, you may wish to use a more polite tone." He glances back across the crowed, studying the reactions of the others. Urfkgar shrugs off Aleksei's comment before adding a noncommittal grunt to the answer mix. Looking around slowly, he doesn't react much either way to the Martian/Sivadian exchange. Ace nods to the new arrivals, looking to Joshua, "Is good to see you...do not let any behaviors that offend you stand in the way. This is rescue mission, not afternoon tea, da?" She looks around at all the people gathered, "Ship kapitans and military representatives only, please...cannot have it getting too crowded." With that, she turns to head through to the conference area. Korthall walks down the boarding ramp, cloaked from head to claw in brown robes that obscure mostly everything, except for the very tip of his tail and his piercing yellow eyes. He sniffs the air for a moment, then walks quietly after Kapitan Ace. Joshua glances about the crowd again, spying Korthall and doing his best to hide his disgust. After a moments fixation on the Nall, he turns his attention to the departing Ace and follows after her. Urfkgar lumbers towards the common area, idly checking his uniform as he goes and flicking a bit of lint of his collar with a claw. Swiftfoot nods at the retreating Ungstiri, then turns to Torr. "So which one of us is the captain today, then?" she inquires. "Wanna flip a coin?" She chuckles and winks, then surveys the gathering once more, her gaze resting only briefly on the Nall. Marlan moves past the cloaked figure and into the common area. Aleksei shrugs at the scarred Zangali. To Joshua, with another shrug: "They do not know you. Me, I'd have to see you in action before judging, you yes?" Then Alek notices the little dino. He sneers, but reserves comment for later. He heads into the common area after the others. "Fuckin' wanker," Malion says, to the RNS officer,as he departs. He patiently waits, looking towards Swifty and Torr. "I'm on comms if ya need me." Torr snorts at the words of the Sivadian, only shaking his head at the man. He glances toward Swiftfoot. "Ya wanna field this shit? You bein' the diplomat. You know our stance. Me and Mal'll do our shit, I guess." He takes another drag of his cigarette, tucking a hand into a pocket. Swiftfoot nods. "Yeah, good point. Think if one of you two went in therre, I can think of thrree people that wouldn't come out alive, orr at least not in one piece." The felinoid chuckles dryly, her tail flicking. "I'll brrief you guys afterrwarrd then," she says, waving a paw and following after the rest of the general migration toward the conference room. Marlan on the other hand heads directly for a chair, ignoring the actions of those around her. Reaching the chair she leans heavily on the crutches and reaches up with her left hand to adjust her beret before shifting the left crutch to her right hand and carefully lowering herself into the chair, crutches propped up along her side. Joshua makes way for a nearby seat, gracefully easing into it and folding his hands before him on the table. Korthall moves to take a seat at the far end of the table. The chairs were not totally meant for Nall psyiology, so his feet are left dangling and his tail has to wrap around his waist and point forward. Silvereye slips into the room, "Altheor's Teeth I haven't been in here for years." The Battleclaw remarks before finding himself a seat and scanning the faces. Urfkgar is standing at parade rest by the bulkhead. Ace, Marlan, Joshua, and Korthall have all managed to take seats along with Silvereye now. Aleksei looks over the area as he heads in. He looks around in some awe of the surroundings. He stops close by the conference table, ready to put in his 2 rubles worth of opinion if he has to. Swiftfoot slips in from the common area, looking around at the general gathering. Spotting Aleksei, she makes her way over to him and taps him on the shoulder, leaning down to whisper something in his ear. "Was the only place I could think of where everyone could meet on neutral ground, da?" Ace replies to Silvereye, "Spaciba...everyone...for coming." She smiles at Frey, "Is good to see you as well. Have asked for representatives from militaries and kapitans of ships," she says to everyone, "So please...introduce yourselves and who you are representing so there is no confusion. Am Ace, Kapitan of the Faux and representing both my own ship and G'ahnlese Debt Collector that has been offered for the cause." Marlan makes a small wave of her hand, "Marly Ranix, Captain of the Athena and i'm representing the AES and hopefully...a PHS medical response, da." she looks around the table as she speaks, blue gaze fixing each person sitting around the table for a moment before moving on. "Battleclaw Silvereye Paintedheart, Demarian Militia." The Demarian of the same name informs the room, looking around. "Remy LeBeau an Dr. Freyssinet o da Wolfsbane." LeBeau says as he walks in with Frey and nods to the assembled group. Freyssinet grins and elbows Remy, "Freyssinet-Lebeau now, dear." she jokes. Joshua stands up to address the crowd, "I am Flight Lieutenant Joshua Rummel, of the Royal Naval Aerospace Service, here on behalf of the Sivadian Royal Naval Service," he says, bowing courteously before retaking his seat. "Fighter pilot?" Silvereye interjects, looking across the table and Joshua. Aleksei turns in slight annoyance as Swiftfoot taps him on the shoulder, but then nods as he hears what she whispers to him. He stands on tiptoe to riefly whisper back. Out loud: "citizen and Kommissar Aleksandr Strumenko of Ungstir. " He glares at the little dino for a moment as he resumes his silence. "Would ask for you to wait outside then, Aleksei," Ace says quietly, "Is no offense, but we cannot open this up to everyone who has volunteered or it will be very crowded and noisy. What we decide, though, will be told to all involved when we are finished." Swiftfoot flicks an ear and looks down at Aleksei, then shrugs vaguely and steps up to the table, standing behind an empty seat. "Swiftfoot Starrchaserr. I am herre rreprresenting Blackjack Shipping and Salvage." The orange-furred felinoid pulls out the chair and drops into it, fidgeting a bit as she tries to get comfortable. Joshua gives an affirming nod in the direction of Silvereye. "Correct, Mr. Paintedheart," he replies. LeBeau looks to Frey and nods with a chuckle "Sorry hun, still no sur wha names yu an Gracie were taking o keeping o gedding rid o." Freyssinet just gives a teasing kiss on the lips and wink to Remy, before whispering something. Aleksei nods to Ace. "Nyi offended at all, Kapitan. You seem to have this conference well in hand anyway. I seem to be needed outside at any rate. With your permission to leave?" Al gives a brief wink to Swifty and prepares to exit the area. Silvereye nods approvingly in Joshua's direction. "Glad to hear it." He replies to Joshua, refocusing his attention on the matter at hand. Joshua likewise returns his attention to the task at hand, his hands still folded before him and remaining unnaturally still. Marlan twists her body, looking over her left shoulder to where Freysinnet and Leabeau stand. She frowns slightly and gives a short shke of her head before tuning back to face Ace. "Da, Aleksei, spaciba," Ace nods before looking back around the table, "Only military not here then would be Ungstir. Will have to proceed without them then. Again, spaciba to all of you for coming. Is my intention to ue this meeting to coordinate our efforts for the assault on the Nall base known as Cairo and the rescue of several thousand prisoners from the Orion Arm being held there. Have worked out a general plan of action provided you are all willing to hear it." Silvereye taps his claws against the surface of the table, frowning lightly. He seems to be thinking for a moment before he nods, signalling his vote for Ace to continue. Aleksei offers a small grin to Swiftfoot and a nod to the good Kapitan as he proceedds to exit the area and heads to the common area. Korthall remains silent and mostly motionless as he watches and listens to Ace. Urfkgar doesn't move his body but turns his head so his one-eyed glower is pointed in Ace's direction. Marlan sits back in the chair, silently watching Ac. Swiftfoot looks over her shoulder as Aleksei departs, then at the happy couple as well, but her reaction is much different: she grins and offers a 'thumbs up' gesture and a flick of her tail, whether they see it or no. She then turns her attention back to Ace, inclining her head slightly in a silent bid to continue. Joshua leans back in his chair and turns his gaze to Ace, clasping his hands in front of his face with the indexes extended over his mouth. "Do proceed, Kapitan Ace," Joshua says. "To begin with, much will depend upon what forces all of you are committing to this effort," Ace begins, "Know that Sivad, Demaria and New Luna have agreed to help, but do not know to what extent. However, at this point, the general plan has three phases - Would have the RNS in charge of whatever fleet will be put together, including the Debt Collector," she gives a nod to Joshua then looks to Urf. "New Luna will lead the ground forces and the Faux will be handling infiltration with the help of Korthall," she gives another nod to the Nall at the end of the table. "Faux, under different name, will be taken in with Korthall having captured it. Several of us will be taken into the camp in order to alert the prisoners to what is coming. Is much worry that the Nall will simply start killing them once the fighting begins...will be much more difficult if the prisoners are fighting back. Another small force will be hidden on the Faux in order to take and hold the landing field and cause chaos from within. Other ships such as the Wolfsbane and the Jackal will provide close quarter air support and drop forces from New Luna while the RNS leads the battle in space. That is basic framework of plan at the moment," she pauses, looking around the table again, waiting for comments. Marlan raises her hand, "We have reason to think they'll accept Korthall as one of their own despite his..." she turns her gaze towards him, "I presume..." back to ace, "lack of a history with them? Personally i'd be suspicious, da." Silvereye glances at Marlan as she speaks, nodding slowly. "I support a general infiltration effort. It'd be the dumbest thing we could do to go in without any idea of the fleet presence over the rock." Korthall remains silent. This is not his meeting, and the Nall is quite content to allow the Kapitan to answer any fielded questions. Urfkgar clacks his teeth together and grunts in what may or may not be an acknowledgement of Ace's comment, but he remains blessedly silent as far as speaking goes - for now. Swiftfoot taps a claw on the table and eyes Marlan as she speaks, then shifts her golden eyes back to Ace, nodding. "Jackal and herr crrew arre up forr whateverr you need us to do, even if that changes once you get a plan hammerred out. You've got the experrience herre, chief, and I trrust yourr judgement. We all do." "Korthall, he is not unknown to them," Ace replies to Marlan, "He was part of the battle at Tomin Kora and was stranded here. He will be going there under the guise of having taken the Faux on TK in order to return to the Nall fleet." Marlan nods at Ace's explanation, leaning forward as she steeples her hands on the tables edge. "What are you intentions with regards to the facility?" Silvereye asks. "Are you aiming to take control or is this just a smash and grab, smash the Nall fleet and their soldiers and grab our people then get out as quickly as possible?" He pauses. "Personally I prefer the latter." Urfkgar snorts somewhat dubiously at Swiftfoot's comment, but he manages to not say anything else yet. "Plan is to move in and get prisoners out," Ace replies to Silvereye with a nod, "Whether or not it is possible to take the facility or destroy it, that is secondary. Do not think the opportunity should be passed up if it appears possible, but it is not the objective, nyet." "The Athena's a big ship" Marlan volunteers, "We'll be providing medical support but can house more then a few prisoners in our bays, da." Silvereye nods slowly. "I doubt the Ungstiri could be swayed to use the civilian ships they're bringing for transport purposes but I think they'd be perfect for it, assuming you could keep them from crashing into each other." "There will be troop carriersssss for ground forcessss and guardsssss," adds Korthall, speaking slowly. "But it would be very difficult to take them. Very difficult." Joshua sits idly in his chair, glancing back and forth at the speakers. He's scrawling notes into a PDA. It starts to get painful. The Zangali begins to talk, and he doesn't stop talking unless physically or mentally prevented from his speachifying. He just raises his already loud voice to deafening bellow proportions if anyone tries to interupt him. Urfkgar tells Ace, "Urf need see place. Urf need hear all stuff stupid softskin girly want marines do. Urf hear all stupid stuff. Urf say all stupid stuff Urf heareded." There's a brief pause before he adds, "Urf heareded morerer stupid stuff now. Urf say stupid stuff Urf heareded no marine stuff. Stupid softskin girly go stupid shorty nally stuckededed place. Stupid shorty nallies make stupid stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place talk. Stupid stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place say all stuff know. Time go fix stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff here." He holds up his index finger and thumb claw in a circle. "Go thingy place." He continues, "Stupid go thingy place no morerer big. All stupid softskin floaty thingies morerer big." He balls his good hand into a fist and tries to fit it through the ring offered by his bad hand, "No go. Need morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. Morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. Morerer no gooderer scram all stupid stuckeded stuff." He waves his hands about in front of him with them bumping into each other frequently, "Time scram. Morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. No stupid shorty nally killeded. All smash all. Want go place." The fingers of his good hand converge on the thumb of his bad hand. Then, he points at his thumb, "Stupid softskin floaty thingy place. Morerer stuff. Marines. Smasheded stupid softskin floaty thingies. Stupid stuckeded stuff. All place. Stupid softskin floaty thingies need go. Kill morerer marines. Kill morerer stuckeded stuff. Need boss say where go. No boss. All grabass. All killededed." He looks over at Marlan and says, "No time take stupid shorty nallies. Need take stupid stuckeded stuff. Want take stupid stuckeded stuff do. Want kill stuff. Boom stuff all stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Boom stuff morerer gooderer. Kill all stuckeded stuff. No need morerer stupid softskin floaty thingys scram stupid stuckeded stuff. Kill all stupid shorty nallies. No need fight morerer stupid shorty nallies." Freyssinet listens intently. Though at Urf's discourse, she blinks, and has a hard time not chuckling. Swiftfoot blinks bewilderedly at the Zangali, then shakes her head. "Oh, no, no, I didn't mean I was speaking forr everryone herre. Just everryone on Jackal's crrew," she clarifies, then shifting her eyes back to Ace. "I'm rratherr fond of the smash and grrab notion as well. I don't think we could feasibly take and maintain contrrol of the facility without taking a grreat numberr of losses, meh?" Marlan watches the tirade then clears her throat slightly, "Help us out here Urf...you're saying we need to take tangle weapons, explosives..make sure this is the last time we have to face the Nall, da? That you want to see data on the base...attack plans...concrete attack information to take to the Marines?" she asks, body twisted in her chair to face him. "Not sure what you're trying to say about the ships being too big though, da." Ace is simply...stunned, her jaw hanging open for a moment as she tries to fathom the meaning of Urf's word-like utterances. It snaps shut, though, as Swifty replies, "You followed that?" she says softly. Joshua stops writing on the PDA and glances at the Zangali with a rather blank expression. Silvereye's whiskers droop as Urf goes on and on. Korthall just blinks at Urf, silently letting those with a more complex grasp of Terran try and figure out whatever it is that the more massive lizard is saying. "Er... no," the orange-furred Demarian admits, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Well, sorrt of. Mostly, I just wanted to clarrify, cause I thought about what I'd said, and didn't want to step on any toes." Swiftfoot pauses, scratching thoughtfully at her chin. "I do think he wants to kill Nall, though," she says, then shrugs. "I also think he's saying we need morre people. Don't quote me, though." "Urf sayeded boom stuff. Kill all stuff stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Urf know stupid softskins stupid. No want kill all stuff stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Want fix. Urf say want fix. Urf need know morerer stuff," says Urfkgar. It's not over yet. He continues, "Stuff stupid softskin girly sayeded morerer stupid. Go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies know all stuff stupid softskin girly know." Then, he makes the ring with his bad hand again and tries to fit his fist through. He says, "Go thingy place. Morerer big stupid softskin floaty stuff no go. Go place thingy morerer goodererer place stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." Joshua glances quizzically at Urfkgar's hand gestures. "What is the ring representing?" he asks. Silvereye blinks. "Is he saying heavy warships are too big to fit through it?" The Battleclaw seems totally lost. "We need a translator." Marlan's face lights up, "I got it!" she exclaims as if she'd just solved the worlds biggest puzzle, she turns to Joshua, "The rings. The ring represents the rings. She turns to face Ace and smirks, "And he thinks your idea is stupid because you're not looking to destroy the base. But he's willing to fix it for you if you give him more information....going over there will only result in your getting 'caught and spilling the details of the mission and getting the rest killed as a result." Silvereye rubs his eyes. "We're not here to play guessing games. Does anyone know anyone nearby who can speak Zangali and translate into standard?" "Err, if I may," Swiftfoot says, blinking again, this time a bit more nonplussed. "Mal might be able to trranslate? He talks to Urrf herre a bit..." The orange-and-white Demarian trails off, tail flicking. "Oh. Sounds like Marrlan figurred it out," she says, nodding. "I think. That makes sense... But I dunno how feasible destrroying the base is." "Think you get a medal for that, Ranix," Ace mutters, looking back to Urf. "Have details of the base layout and numbers of Nall, da. Do not intend to be in the slave camp long enough for Nall to get information...is going to be very quick. And if we have the forces able to destroy the base, think it should be done, da, but first priority is rescuing the prisoners." Urfkgar grunts and nods to Marlan. He says, "Stupid softskin girly doc sayeded Urf sayeded." "I'm impressed, Ms. Ranix," Joshua says in gratitude, "It will definitely make my report back to the Admiralty a touch more accurate." "So," Ace takes a breath, looking around the table, "Any further comments or ideas or do we go with plan as it is?" "How are you going to communicate with us once you're inside the compound?" Silvereye asks Ace. "We have to be able to preserve a no-go option if things are worse than we expected." "Time scram. Morerer stupid shorty nally floaty thingies. No go go place thingy," says Urfkgar, holding up his bad hand in the ring gesture again. He uses both hands, waving them vaguely out in different directions. "All go morerer places. Wait morerer time. Go go thingy place. No all go time. Morerer go. Morerer times." He snorts and adds, "Stupid shorty nallies no mosterer stupid all times. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff all stuff go go place thingy go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." "Mack and Josh are setting up communications gear in hidden compartment on Faux," Ace says, "They will be able to monitor the area and communicate with the outside as well as with Korthall." She looks back to Urf and this time neither blinks nor gapes but instead simply looks to Marlan for a translation. Swiftfoot shakes her head, tapping a claw idly against the table. "Naw, chief, whateverr you think we'rre up forr... well, I'll trrust yourr judgement." The orange-furred Jackal's ears lay back a bit as Urf speaks again, her whiskers drooping. She puts one paw to her forehead, and murmurs something unintelligible to herself, most likely in Demarese. Joshua glances at Urf, then toward Marlan, "Is he trying to suggest we go in waves?" Marlan turns to Joshua and nods, "I think so, da." she turns back to look at ace, "He's saying the Nall aren't stupid, da. And i have to agree with him. We have reason to believe that there's a highly powerful telepath on board that vessel, da. Its possibly she'd pick up on the deception within moments, da." "Volari'sssss ssssisssster?" asks Korthall. Silvereye rolls his eyes. "I'm not even going to try. It's not worth it." He pauses. "I think waves might dilute our already fairly meager forces...All of this is assuming we're dealing with a severely weakened Parallax, if there's a battle fleet parked over this rock then we have to say no go and reassess our plans." Joshua nods back to Marlan, "It also sounds like the Zangali may also be referring to bottle-necking at the gate," Joshua says thoughtfully. Urfkgar grunts and nods, gesturing with a karate-chop style point at both Marlan and Joshua. He says, "Yup." "Da, is possible any deception could be noticed," Ace nods, "Is also possible any force coming through the Nexus will immediately be spotted and countered. Is many possibilities in any plan for detection, but if those prisoners are not informed ahead of time, then their chance of survival is minimal." Swiftfoot blinks at Ace, and nods. "Speaking forr myself only herre, I'm prrimarrily interrested in getting those people out of that place. Therre's always the chance of Nall rretaliation, but therre's going to be rrisks no matterr what we do in therre." Silvereye nods slowly. "Our chances of bottlenecking a Nall retaliatory strike seems greater than their ability to bottleneck us, especially if we're talking about the highly unconventional coalition fleet we've assembled." Joshua looks to Ace, "I do hate to bring such notions to the table, but what are your contingencies should the Nall have... converted... a few of the prisoners?" Marlan turns to Swiftfoot and shakes her head, "It's not Nall retaliation i'm worried about." Marlan frowns, "They get a hold of her.." she points to Ace, "they not only tear her mind apart but they know exactly what our plans are, da." she shakes her head, "Prisoners will defend themselves, da....we know of atleasat one prisoner that is on that planet...it won't be much but perhaps we can get word to atleasther once we're close. Like i said...won't be much but its better then nothing...better then risking the entire plan." Korthall gets down out of his chair and heads off towards the exit. "I have nothing further to add, I will follow the plan you devise," the Nall says as he leaves. "Stupid stuckeded stuff no need know morerer time. Time do stuff. Stuff go say stupid stuckeded stuff scram," says Urfkgar. "Stupid stuckeded stuff know time scram. Stupid shorty nallies know time scram." Marlan looks back to Urfkgar and nods in agreement, "da, exactly my point." "I dunno," Swiftfoot says, shrugging. "I can't think of a betterr way to get worrd to the prrisonerrs so therre isn't just a wholesale slaughterr once we strrike. They'rre not above that kind of thing. Demarr knows therre's always morre slaves, at least frrom theirr point of view." Joshua stands up from his seat. "I too must take my leave," he says, "I shall inform the Admiralty of your intentions. Expect to receive our response soon with more finite details of our involvement in this matter." He gives a final, courteous bow to the group. Silvereye inclines his head towards Joshua. "Thank you for your time. Give the Admiralty the militia's regards." "Spaciba, lieutenant," Ace nods to the man, "Look forward to hearing back from you soon." Urfkgar snorts and says, "Stupid stuckeded stuff know. Stupid stuckeded stuff no know. Stupid shorty nallies no care. Kill stupid stuckeded stuff stupid stuckeded stuff know no know. Kill stupid stuckeded stuff know. Stupid shorty nallies want kill. Stupid shorty nallies kill. Stupid stuckeded stuff know time no fix stupid shorty nallies want kill stupid stuckeded stuff." "I shall," Joshua says, nodding to the Demarian, then turns to Ace, "Yes, Kapitan Ace." With the formalities out of the way, he turns in military fashion and walks out of the hall. Marlan nods, backing up Urf's statement, "There's no question that the Nall are willing to kill their prisoners, but the risk of going in early is too high compared to the possible benefits. We're waging the whole mission on that the prisoners won't pass the information on to the Nall and that their interrogator isn't going to get it out of one of them..." she waves towards Ace, "or one of the prisoners." she frowns, "Look...i speak from experience, da. Something like that moving around...she's bound to atleast sense the difference and investigate." she shifts uncomfortably, "Trust me, da. Even if one of our folks doesn't break...it probably won't take much for one of those pirsoners to." Silvereye nods slowly to Marlan. "The question really is if we can overwhelm the Nall ground presence without demolishing the facility from space." The Demarian comments. "The latter option really defeats the purpose of rescuing the prisoners...This mission has to be fast, fast fast." "Am not talking of going in days ahead of time but hours....twenty four at most," Ace shakes her head, "You are assuming that Volnohmersea will immediately find us and immediately interrogate us which is highly doubtful. If it does go wrong and we are compromised from the onset, is nothing to stop the rest of you from moving in ahead of schedule." Urfkgar clacks his teeth together and says, "Do stuff morerer no gooderer stupid shorty nallies no know time. Stupid shorty nallies know time. No need do. Know all killededed. No all killededed. All stuckeded stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." Swiftfoot nods politely to the retreating Sivadian, offering a flick of her ears before turning back to the table. "Hrr. I guess that's a valid point. About the prrisonerrs not being able to stand up to... interrogation, I mean." The felinoid sighs, shaking her head. "I don't know that therre's a -good- way to go about this. Just a bad way, and a way that is perrhaps less bad. The question is, which is which?" She blinks at Ace then, nodding. "Also a good point. What arre the odds that, of thrree thousand people, they will find ourr agents rright off? Honestly, I'm inclined to side with Ace. I've trrusted herr judgement forr too long to give up on it in the eleventh hourr." Marlan shrugs softly, "Its a matter of risks...who's to say you'll be made part of the general population within the first 24 hours?" Marlan asks, "If it was me running that base, you'd be a fountain of information about what was happening on the other side, da. Not to mention as an unmolded prisoner a possible threat. You wouldn't be part of regular population until i was sure you wouldn't be a problem." "Stupid shorty nallies no stupid fuzzballs. Stupid tally glowlies talk new stuckeded stuff," says Urfkgar, trying to back Marlan up. He explains after clacking his teeth together a few times, "Stupid softskin girly say stupid shorty nally go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Say stupid stuff stupid shorty nallies stupid stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies stuckeded place say new stupid shorty nally morerer gooderer. Stupid new shorty nally stuckeded morerer new stupid softskins. Stupid shorty nallies see stupid new stupid stucked softskins. Say stupid new stuckeded stupid softskins go talk stupid tally glowly. Stupid tally glowly mudbrain all stuff. Stupid new stupid shorty nally killededed. Stupid new stupid softskins killededed. Time go fix stupid stuckeded nally place. All go fix. Killededed. No killededed. Stuckeded." "You are making a very big assumption that all prisoners are 'molded,'" Ace gives another shake of her head. "Spent eighteen months in Nall prison camp. Saw new prisoners come and go. Think you very much overestimate how much interrogation is done in slave camps, especially in this one which has a high turnover, not to mention we have one very important thing on our side - Korthall. Is no reason for him not to be taken at his word...is against everything the Nall believe in." Silvereye frowns. "Either way we can't go in blind." He says. "That's all there is to it." Marlan turns to Silvereye, "We're not going in that blind...we have information on the number of nall soldiers, information on the layout of the facility...we may not have every detail we may want but i don't forsee us being able to get all that information in 24 hours, da.", she shakes her head and turns towards Ace, "has nothing to do with molded. THe Nall aren't stupid...i can think of more reasons why they wouldn't have you in with general population and mingling within a 24 hour period then reasons why they would, da. The entire mission rests on their *not* knowing we're going in, da. Otherwise they set up outsidet he ring and pick us off as we go through." she shakes her head, "The prisoners, if they'r enot moldd will fight when they see the opportunity...they won't need you or anyone else in there to tell them that." Urfkgar nods and says, "Stuff stupid softskin girly doc sayeded." Silvereye shakes his head at Marlan. "The big piece we're missing is fleet presence. I truly believe that will make or break this mission. If the Nall have a large fleet presence we can't support an attack on the facility." "We'rre not going in blind though," Swiftfoot says, shaking her head. "We just need to use what we've been given. We've got a layout of the compound. We've got a rrundown of just how many Nall we'rre facing. We've got Ace's experriences to drraw on, too." She shrugs then, one ear laying halfway back. "I think the list of names changes farr too often forr them to be interrogating all of the incoming slaves, especially considerring therre's only a handful of Vollistans." "If they do not see it coming, they will be caught unprepared," Ace shakes her head again. "Without some warning, the slaves will be disorganized and slaughtered...it is not as if the Nall are going to announce 'we are here to kill you now.' They will simply walk in and do it." She nods in agreement with Swifty and Silver, "As I said, this place, it has a high turnover rate of slaves and a small crew of a freighter brought in by a Nall is not as suspicious as you seem to think it will be. This is our best chance of relaying information on their military capabilities as well as getting a force on the inside to support the prisoners when the fighting begins." "Stupid stuff go stupid stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies know. No morerer stuff. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place stupid shorty nallies no know. Time fight stuff. All killeded go. No all killeded go. All killeded fight," says the Zangali. He shrugs and says, "Stupid softskin girly no want hear Urf. Urf no care. Urf need see all stuff stupid softskin girly know stupid stuckeded place." Marlan shakes her head, "Like urf said...if they find out, then the prisoners AND the rescuers are all dead, da." she shakes her head, "Some will die regardless, we can't prevent that. The Nall may come in and klil four or five before they realize whats happening, but i promise you they'll catch on soon enough, da. Volnohm will sense if there's a sudden shift in the demeanor of the prisoners....and it'll take her all of 15 minutes to get the information she needs to confirm it, da." she shakes her head, "All for what...the chance that MAYBE we can get in 24 hours, assuming you have access to the prisoners some sort of internal rebellion going?" Silvereye shrugs. "I'm not waiting for rebellion. If we move fast enough there's a good chance we can take out large numbers of Nall by attacking their barracks and dormitories from space." "Am listening, Urf," Ace replies, "Simply do not agree, and you are giving Volari's sister far too much credit, Ranix. Vollistans, they are not all powerful and are not in touch with everyone at all times as you imply. And am not suggesting rebellion but organization and preparation. You cannot simply land ships in the middle of a Nall compound and shout for all the prisoners to come to you...will be chaos and slaughter that way." Ace rises from her chair, "Can see the pros and cons of both sides, but for the additional intel and preparation we can get by infiltration, believe the risk is worth it." Swiftfoot snorts softly. "I'm prretty surre they'd do anything to get out of that compound. I know I would, werre I in theirr place." She nods then at Silvereye, absently tapping her claws on the table. "The less we've got to deal with on the grround, the betterr forr all concerrned, but still... I think ourr best chance to get the maximum numberr of prrisonerrs out alive is to send someone in therre to lead them out." Urfkgar just shakes his head and says, "Urf need see all stuff stupid softskin girly know." Silvereye rises after Ace. "We can see that the information is distributed. We may have to meet again." Marlan leans back in her chair, now silent, following the conversation Ace pages: what do you want to bet Marlan tries to fuck this up on the sly "Will see to it that what data we have is distributed," Ace agrees with Silver, "Can plan air and ground assaults from there...leave that to RNS and NLM." Marlan sighs and reaches over to grab her crutches, left hand on them, right on the table for support as she pushes herself to her feet, "I'm still waiting on word from the PHS regarding whetehr they'll send some of their doctors with us." Urfkgar grunts and nods. He says, "Marines do marine stuff." "Any help, it would be appreciated, da," Ace nods as she heads for the door. "Spaciba again to all of you." Swiftfoot rises from the table, going through some kind of universal feline stretching ritual before pushing the chair back up to the table. She nods to everyone still present, then walks out after Ace, her tail flicking somewhat irritably as she makes her way out into the common area. Category: Go Down, Moses